The Briggs Initiative followed similar legislation that had passed in Oklahoma and Arkansas, banning gays and lesbians from teaching in public schools. It stated that any teacher that was found to be “advocating, imposing, encouraging or promoting” homosexual activity could be fired. It was the first attempt to restrict gay and lesbian rights through a ballot measure. The initiative went down to resounding defeat, and even lost in Briggs’ own Orange County, at that time a stronghold of conservatism in the state. Its sponsors blamed Reagan for the defeat.